Special to WorldTribune.com

JERUSALEM — Iran’s Palestinian proxy has renewed operations in the West Bank.

Israeli military sources said Islamic Jihad has established operational cells in several cities in the West Bank.

The sources said the latest cells were believed to have been launched around Ramallah near Jerusalem.

“Islamic Jihad has more money for recruitment and weapons than ever, which enabled its expansion from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank,” an official said.

On Oct. 22, the Israeli Army reported the killing of a leading Jihad commander, identified as Mohammed Asi. The Army said Asi, accused of planning the bombing of an Israeli bus in Tel Aviv in 2012, had been on the run for months from Israeli authorities.

“The operation was important,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said.

Officials said Asi marked Jihad’s expansion in the West Bank. They said
he had recruited Palestinians for bombing and other attacks. They said Asi
and his men fired guns and hurled grenades from their cave hideout outside
Bilin, near Ramallah. An infantry force responded with anti-tank missiles.

“There was intelligence collected about him for months,” the military
said.

Asi was said to have been working with two key deputies, identified as
Mohammed Sais and Abdullah Abu Asi. Officials said both men were arrested
and interrogated.

Officials said Jihad was trying to increase operations in an effort to
trigger another uprising in the West Bank. They said Palestinian attacks
have significantly increased over the last two months, but could not
determine an organized campaign.

“There has been an infectious wave of terror attacks,” Ya’alon said.
“However, there are no signs of a popular uprising.”

  Iran-backed militia resurfaces in West Bank with ‘more money and weapons’, Israeli sources: Islamic Jihad re-emerges in West Bank with ‘more money and weapons’, Mohammed Asi, Moshe Ya’alon, Ramallah